Newswire

Worldwide Ban on English Soccer Teams Issued

The International Federation of Football Assns. (FIFA), soccer's governing body, imposed a worldwide ban on England's 92 professional clubs Thursday, four days after European soccer authorities had excluded English teams from competition on the Continent in the wake of last week's rioting in Brussels that left 38 spectators dead and hundreds injured.

British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, speaking Thursday in the House of Commons, welcomed the action.

"I hope we shall be able to take steps which will restore our good name both at home and in international football," Thatcher said.

The ban, for an indefinite length of time, does not include the English national team, now preparing for next year's World Cup in Mexico. Nor are clubs in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland affected.

Meanwhile Thursday, Italy defeated England, 2-1, in a match in Mexico City, the first meeting of teams from the two countries since the ill-fated Brussels game.

The English players wore black armbands in the game, for which Mexico had installed tight security measures.

The Dodgers have signed their first-round draft choice, outfielder Chris Gwynn.

Gwynn, 20, from San Diego State, was the 10th player chosen in the free-agent draft Monday. His brother, Tony, is an outfielder for the San Diego Padres and won the National League batting championship last season.

The Dodgers said Gwynn would report to their Vero Beach farm club in the Florida State League on Monday.

The Dodgers also said they had signed a second-round pick, catcher Dan Smith of Morehead State in Kentucky.

Juan Antonio Samaranch, president of the International Olympic Committee, said he had been assured by the Soviet Union and other Eastern Bloc nations that they will participate in the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

Said Samaranch at an East Berlin news conference: "We have received assurances and we are sure that all socialist countries will take part in the Seoul Games."

The IOC chief also pointed out the organization now has a rule requiring all countries to confirm their entries eight months before the Olympics.

Archie Moore, 71-year-old former light-heavyweight boxing champion, continued to recover from about 50 bee stings, suffered when one his backyard hives broke open.

"I had over 200 fights, but the only time I was bewildered was in the fight against the bees," he said. "The bees were very disturbed, they thought I wanted to fight them. They cloaked me. When I ran from them, it looked like I was wearing a robe."

The missing San Antonio Gunslinger paychecks which precipitated a "no pay, no play" threat to boycott Sunday's game against the Los Angeles Express did not arrive as hoped Thursday at the U.S. Football League team's headquarters.

Said Gunslinger linebacker Putt Choate: "Unless these guys are paid, there will be no game."

Virtually everyone on the Gunslinger payroll has gone unpaid for the last month, including players, coaches and front-office employees.

The athletic directors of eight schools that formerly competed under the banner of the ECAC South said they have formed a new conference: the Colonial Athletic Assn. Included are Richmond, American, East Carolina, George Mason, James Madison, Navy, North Carolina-Wilmington and William & Mary.

Names in the News

Marco Baldi, a 6-11 high school basketball standout and an exchange student from Italy, said Wednesday he will play college basketball at St. John's.

Billie Jean King, commissioner of TeamTennis, announced the signing of a three-year, multimillion-dollar agreement between the league and Domino's Pizza.

John Drew, former Utah Jazz basketball player, was ordered to enter a drug rehabilitation program in Salt Lake City after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor charge of writing bad checks.

Ron Springs, a running back with the Dallas Cowboys, has been charged with assault involving an alleged attack on a construction firm owner who claimed he had not been paid for work on a brick wall at the player's home.